Prediction published on 8/30/24, 8:19 AM
by
Tyler Doty
|
Modified on
8/30/24
at 8:24 AM
in
ATP US Open Picks
This Friday we’ll see Norway’s Casper Ruud and China’s Juncheng Shang face off in the US Open round of 16. There’s a clear gap between these two players, who have never faced each other on the ATP circuit. Casper Ruud is a clay-court player with incredible statistics. This year, he won the Barcelona and Geneva tournaments, 2 clay-court events. His last trophy on hard court dates back to 2021, when he won the San Diego tournament. Currently ranked 8th in the world, he remains highly effective on hard surfaces, with 20 wins from 26 matches played this year.
For his part, Juncheng Shang has mixed it up this season between Challengers and ATP tournaments. His hard-court statistics are almost identical to those of his opponent, with 19 wins out of 26 matches played. Semi-finalist in Atlanta in July, Juncheng Shang will want to give his all if he is to progress to the quarter finals. On the other side, the level is very high and he should still find it very difficult to score even one set. Having beaten Bublik in 5 sets in the first round, he went on to defeat Carballes Baena in the previous round (winning in 3 sets).
